Date for the Diary: Farm & Food Tour across Exmoor

Join Shaun and Daphne for a scenic drive across the moors in a LandRover to a remote hill farm for a tour of the farm with the farmers who will show you their free range pork, Dexter cattle, dairy goats and alpacas. You are then invited into the traditional farmhouse for refreshments and tastings of the delicious food they produce, followed by a demonstration of alpaca wool spinning.

On the road from Exford to Porlock. Photo by Rob Hatton, February 2013

West Country Farm & Food Tours

When we talk to people about our business, we often receive comments relating to our enthusiasm and passion. We thought you might like to know why we do what we do.

1) We get a kick out of the facial expressions of our tour guests when they learn something new or taste something delicious. We enjoy receiving feedback from our host farmers and food producers – especially when they’ve opened someone’s eyes to something they didn’t know existed. Seeing our group purchase produce direct from its source knowing they will enjoy eating it later really makes us smile.

2) We get to spend the day travelling around the stunning countryside of the West Country, pootling along country lanes and visiting locations that are often not open to the general public – heaven! For our guests who dont know the area or who dont like narrow lanes with high hedges, we take away the stress of reversing or getting lost and replace it with comfort, companionship and commentary.

3) Food. We like food – especially locally produced food. One of the most important elements of a day out with us is our lunch stop. Sometimes we will head to a café, tea room or pub, other times one of our host food producers will provide a light lunch at their location. We can also make use of suppliers to create yummy picnics that we can enjoy wherever we choose.

4) We see ourselves as a link bringing together suppliers (farmers and food producers) and consumers (our tour guests). We might visit a farm to learn about their beef production, but our guests will leave knowing there are idyllic holiday cottages and a camp site there too. Our group will learn where products can be purchased in the future too, such as local farmers markets or on line.

5) Our transport is provided by local community transport groups for which we pay a commercial rate. This enables them to use the money to support the vital community based work they often struggle to fund. We make sure we treat the drivers properly too – they come on the visits and enjoy lunch with us.

6) Children are indeed the future, and we want to give them a taste of our tours too. Already some of our tour guests have given us a contribution to our education fund, and some of our host farmers have insisted on giving their fee to the cause. Our aim is to be able to provide local schools with a taste of West Country Farm and Food Tours.